Peter Mark of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, found a cargo unit from a truck washed up on a remote beach last week. Inside was a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, which is rusty but did not look particularly old. Its license plate was traced to 29-year-old Ikuo Yokoyama of Yamamoto, Japan, who had not seen his motorcycle since the tsunami in March of last year.

Yokoyama told Japanese television station NHK that the discovery of the motorcycle was miraculous and he wished to thank the B.C. man who found it personally, but so far he has only been able to do so on TV.

He said he lost his home and three family members in the tsunami and is now living in temporary accommodation. The motorcycle was being kept at his house in the back section of a cube van that he was using as a storage shed when the tsunami struck.

He said he bought the bike five years ago and some of his fondest memories were of his tours around Japan on it.

When asked if he wanted to say anything to his bike, Yokoyama laughed and and said, "Thanks for coming back buddy," in Japanese.

The Harley-Davidson Company plans to ship the bike back to Yokoyama, and is looking into the possibility of restoring it for him. Link -via reddit